This invention relates generally to medical procedures and more particularly to a system for collecting medical data and other information.
The treatment of patients in hospitals and other medical facilities requires numerous procedures to be carried out. For example, health car professionals such as physicians, therapists, nurses, technicians and others must review patients' medical charts from time to time, render treatment or perform various procedures, and record on the charts the results of the procedure or treatment, the assessment of the patients' condition, or other information. In the past, the charts have been reviewed mainly at a nurse's station or other location, and the information has been manually written on the medical chart. Although hand held computing devices have been used, it has been necessary for information to be entered through a small key pad which is different to use, particularly when a large volume of data must be typed on the key pad. Consequently, the use of hand held data terminals has not added appreciably to the efficiency of medical data collection, and it remains a slow cumbersome and inefficient process which detracts from hospital efficiency and effective patient care.
The present invention provides a medical data collection system which combines the best features of manual and computerized procedures while avoiding their undesirable aspects. In accordance with the invention, a portable data terminal unit is held in a pocket on one of the folding panels of a carrying case which opens and closes in the manner of a book. A releaseable strap secures the unit in the pocket and yet allows it to be removed for repair, cleaning or other purposes.
The LCD display on the face of the terminal unit projects out of the pocket where it remains readily visible, and the key pad is visible and accessible through a cutout on the front face of the pocket. A scanning wand capable of reading bar codes is held in a sleeve in the case, and the cord which connects the wand with the terminal unit is drawn around the strap so that it does not dangle freely to possibly become entangled with other objects.
The inside of the case has one or more transparent sheaths which hold paper sheets or other documents on which bar coded information is imprinted. The bar codes are visible through the sheaths so that the scanning wand can be withdrawn from its sleeve and scanned over selected bar codes in order to enter the data they represent, which may pertain to procedures or treatments carried out, patient assessment information, results, observations, comments, etc. Time is saved by this process because this information can be quickly entered without the need to type it into the unit on the key pad. Another plastic sheath on the inside of the case may hold work lists containing patient information such as pertinent medical chart data, reports, treatment plans, doctors orders, etc.